The Element of Speech
by Vergina-spva
Summary: When they are about to go undercover, Lucci tries out a new element of speech, to help out a colleague he cares more about than he should. Written for the share-the-love month on tumblr. (Hints of) LucciKaku. Set 5 years before they meet the strawhats.


_This is my story for the Share-the-love month, hosted by Aerle and Myladyday._

_I'm sorry, it's unbeta'd, so if you see any mistakes and feel like pointing them out, please do so._

_Also, it is very hard to do Kaku's way of speech right, but I tried my best. It's just not as good in English as in Japanese._

_Hope you enjoy it anyway~!_

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**The Element of Speech**

He watched Kaku talk. It was weird, Lucci thought. The guy was only eighteen, but he talked as if he was _eighty_. A lot of people had commented on it already, so the black haired man had decided long ago that it was unnecessary to do so as well.

Lucci leaned back as he watched his two colleagues discuss some last things, before they would infiltrate in the city of Water 7. Which was only a few days away.

A new environment. It didn't really matter much to Lucci, it was just another place where he would do his job. However, for Kaku it meant a new place where he would need to be accepted, a new place where they would probably make fun of the way he talked.

The older man didn't really know why he cared, because he had sworn never to care for anyone, not more than professionally at least. But here he was, not wanting Kaku to feel like an outsider.

But there wasn't much he could do about it, Lucci thought as he stroked Hattori's feathers. Kaku never tried to change the way he talked, even though he must have felt bad because of it at one point in time. And he shouldn't have to change it. It was kind of cute.

Lucci frowned. Where the hell did that thought come from? He softly shook his head and tried to forget about the cute-thing. He looked at his pigeon, which cocked his head, as if it was trying to ask if his master was okay.

Wouldn't it be interesting if the bird could talk? To be honest, Hattori had been the only one who had always been there for him. Even if it was stupid, the pigeon might have been the only one who had ever come close to being a friend. So Lucci wouldn't mind it if the bird would be able to talk. Even though that was a ridiculous thought in itself.

However, while looking at his pet, another idea turned up in his head and put the faintest smile on his lips. Well, it was worth a try, wasn't it?

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A few days later Kaku and he walked through the city of Water 7. Blueno had left them earlier, he would work in a bar, while the others would work at the shipyard. Kalifa had gotten the job of secretary a day earlier, to avoid suspicion and to make it easier for the two men.

The two of them neared the place they had to be, the Galley-la company, not having said anything to each other. Well, Lucci was never the chatty type to begin with. And the thing he had worked on made it that he rather wouldn't let his real voice be heard.

When they had reached the doors of the company they would work for, Kaku send him a glance, as if he was saying 'are you ready?'. Lucci nodded barely visible. Of course, it really didn't matter to him where it was that he worked. It didn't even matter to him that he would probably be made fun of in the beginning. They would learn not to.

"Uhm, excuse me," Kaku said, as he stopped one of the workers at the shipyard. "We would like to talk to your boss, Mister Iceberg, if you please."

The worker scratched the back of his head. "'S fine with me, but I have no idea where he is at the moment." A few of his co-workers came closer to hear what was going on.

"We would be delighted if you could be so kind as to inquire about his whereabouts," Kaku pressed on.

One of the workers snorted. "How old are you? Are you even able to call yourself an adult yet? You talk like my grandpa."

"I am indeed eighteen, thank you. Now, about Mister Iceberg..." Lucci could see his colleague wasn't very happy about the remark, but tried to ignore it.

At that moment Kalifa came walking towards them, right on cue. The two of them pretended not to know her, of course, but one of the workers that had been listening, did recognize her. "Ah, aren't you the new secretary of Iceberg?"

"She is?" another asked. "What happened to the old one?"

"That's sexual harassment," Kalifa commented while pushing up her glasses. "I'm Kalifa and I'm indeed Iceberg-san's new secretary. Can I do something for you, or these gentlemen at the gate?"

"Ah, yes, thank you, we would like a meeting with Mister Iceberg, if it isn't too much trouble," Kaku said. "We have come to apply for a job as shipwrights."

Kalifa took a look at the schedule in her hands. "It seems like Iceberg-san doesn't have any appointments at the moment, so you can follow me. You'll meet him now."

The two of them followed their female colleague after a short nod of acknowledgment. Soon they reached a man with blue hair, who they immediately recognized as Iceberg.

"Iceberg-san, these gentlemen want to apply for a job," Kalifa introduced them.

The company president looked up. "Oh? And who are you?"

"I am Kaku, sir. I would be extremely honored to work for you. I have a burning passion for ships and am very dedicated to work on them."

Iceberg nodded, but with raised eyebrows and then looked at Lucci.

"My name is Ro-, I mean, I'm Hattori and this man," the bird pointed at his master with his wings, "is Rob Lucci. We'd like to work here as well."

Iceberg stared at him with his jaw slack, but he wasn't the only one who was surprised. Kalifa and Kaku both hadn't seen his sudden switch to ventriloquism coming and especially Kaku had a hard time hiding his surprise. Iceberg finally responded after a few seconds. "The bird... did you... I like you two. You're hired, let's see what you can do."

Well, that was easy. Even though they had known it wouldn't be too hard to get the job, this almost seemed _too_ easy. Oh well.

Kalifa got the message to show them around and she gladly did. While they walked away from Iceberg and the crowd around him, Kaku almost whispered to his colleague, "What on earth was that about? Did you just use ventriloquism?" He seemed to find it quite funny though, if the slight smile on his lips was anything to go by.

Lucci didn't show any emotion on his face and didn't open his mouth. "What are you talking about? Isn't this how I always talk?" the bird said.

The three of them reached one of the docks where they did the basic things, the dock were the lowest ranked people worked. Kalifa cleared her throat. "This is where you will start to work. If you show you're worth more, you will probably be promoted to a dock of more importance."

A few of the people working there gathered around. "Oh, are you new guys? What can you do, you don't seem to be very strong," one of them said as he tried to pinch Kaku's arm.

The long nosed man backed away. "We are indeed new here, but you will change your way of thinking about us soon enough, I am convinced of that."

The guy began to laugh. "Pffft, you talk like an old man!"

Kaku was quiet for a moment, but then glanced shortly at Lucci, after which he began to laugh as well. It sounded like an honest laugh too. "Yeah, I've been told that before."

The grateful look he send his ventriloquizing colleague after that, made Lucci's heart skip a beat and made it really hard for him not to smile back. At least Kaku wouldn't feel like the only outsider anymore.

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_I hope you liked it and please leave a review~!_


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